


Love Me Like You Used To

by nintendogs



Category: All Time Low, You Me At Six
Genre: M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 04:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5234450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nintendogs/pseuds/nintendogs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh and Alex haven't seen each other in years since Alex moved to Baltimore. When they see each other again, Alex has let go of their relationship and Josh hasn't.</p><p>Title credit: You Me at Six</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. prologue.

Josh Franceschi and Alex Gaskarth were high school sweethearts, you could say. They have been together since their sophomore year after Josh moved from Weybridge to Essex. Everyone thought they were perfect for each other. The way they had almost similar personalities, their interests, their love for music, the way that they just wanted to have fun, and the fact that they were the type of people that you could always count on.  
  
Nothing ever stood in the way of their relationship. Most people understood that either one wasn't going to cheat on the other because they loved each other so much. If someone was to hit on them, they'd walk away rather than just standing there. People usually backed off because, really, there was no use for coming between the two.  
  
But the thing was that they couldn't express their love to the world. Well, in certain places or if they were out of town they could; but never in places that the friends of Alex's parents worked out.  
  
You see, Peter and Isobel love their son very much. After the loss of their oldest son, Tom, they showed extra love to Alex. They wanted to show more care for him because they believed that maybe Tom left because they didn't show any affection (although they did, just not as much because the Gaskarths were busy people). When Alex refused to play sports, they didn't push it. When Alex started liking rock and punk music, they shrugged off all the times he blasted his stereo. When Alex got his first tattoo, they were a little disappointed but they let that slide.  
  
But if they ever found out that their son was gay, all hell would break loose.  
  
Here's the difference between the Gaskarths and the Franceschi's.  
  
The Franceschi's were an outgoing family. They were nice and funny bunch. Josh's parents know all about his and Alex's relationship. The best part of it all was that they accepted it. As long as Josh was happy, then they were happy. And Josh's sister, Elissa, was happy. Because that means she could have a gay friend, as weird as it may sound.  
  
Now as for for Alex's parents. The Gaskarths (minus Alex) were a serious religious family. They believed in the word of the Lord and what his message was. If God said this or that was against the Bible, then they would automatically dislike it. Why? Because they wanted to be good Catholics. So they went to mass every Sunday. Prayed every morning, dinner, and at night. They prayed the rosary twice each month and attended any event their church held. They were dedicated Catholics, you could say. So if God supposedly said that liking the same gender rather than the opposite was wrong, then they automatically disliked any sexuality that wasn't heterosexual. Don't get Alex wrong, he loved his parents but just not the fact that they thought they had to follow every damn thing God said.  
  
Nineteen year old Alex was currently shopping at the mall with his mom for some new clothes to wear at church. Isobel was making Alex go since the Gaskarth family was hosting an event to raise money for the church and for charity.  
  
“Alexander, honey, I think this shirt would look lovely, don't you think?" she asked, holding up a light blue button up shirt. “You can wear it with the black tie your father gave you for Christmas. Honey, are you even listening to me?"  
  
Alex took off one of his ear buds, raising an eyebrow. “What did you say?"  
  
Isobel tried not to snap at her son. So she let out a sigh. “Alexander, can you please just stop listening to your Blue Day, Wink 182, Green card, or whatever you listen to for just one minute. I want to know your opinion on this shirt."  
  
Alex rolled eyes, pausing the song and taking out the other ear bud. “First of all, they're called Green Day, Blink-182, and Yellowcard. Second, just pick out whatever you want, mum."  
  
“Okay, let's go purchase this shirt."  
  


-=-

  
  
Two days later, Alex found himself wearing a blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up all the way to his elbows, black dress pants, his black and white checkered Vans, and a black tie. He didn't look quite his best but at least he was wearing a tie, he thought.  
  
He smiled brightly when he saw his boyfriend sitting down with his parents and sister. He headed towards their table, poking Josh's shoulder.  
  
“Hey there," Alex said.  
  
Josh turned, smiling at his boyfriend. He wanted to kiss his soft lips so badly but he was at church and their parents were there, so no. “Hey yourself."  
  
“Mind if I sit here for a bit till my mum needs me?"  
  
“Of course, dear," Josh's mother said with a kind smile.  
  


\--

  
  
Josh's hands were roaming all around Alex's body as he kissed his neck. Alex moaned, tilting his head for Josh. The two couldn't last another minute without their lips pressed together so they went inside the janitors closet.  
  
“Gotta be quiet, babe. Don't want your mummy and daddy to see us, right?"  
  
Alex could feel his boyfriend smirk. “Where's the fun in that?"  
  
The other male nodded, continuing his neck biting and the occasional ear nibbling.  
  
Now the hard thing thing about making out in a closet by the men and women's bathroom is keeping quiet. Josh could keep quiet easily. But as for Alex, that's like asking someone with asthma to run a 5K without their inhaler. Alex was a moaning mess, he could never keep quiet sometimes. He usually relied on Josh's hand covering his mouth or him biting on a pillow.  
  
And then the worst happened; the door opened.  
  
“Joshua? Alexander?"  
  
The two pulled away from each other, looking at Isobel with wide eyes. “U-Uh, hi mum."  
  
“Peter! Come over here!" Isobel shouted, ignoring the fellow church folk's stares. “Wait till your father sees this."  
  
The thought of Alex's dad coming over to see this was a scary though. Although Peter was a bit more outgoing than Isobel, he was pretty scary when he gets pissed off. Some people think that if he got so mad, he could turn into the Hulk or something.  
  
“What is it, Isobel? Oh, hello, Joshua."  
  
“Hi, Mr. Gaskarth," the male mumbled, trying to ignore Isobel's glare.  
  
As if it couldn't get any worse, Josh's parents arrived. “Oh there you are, Joshua!" His father said. “What's going on?"  
  
“What's going on? What's going _on_? What's going on is that your son is trying to seduce my son, that's what's going on."  
  
“What?!" Peter growled, trying not to strangle Josh's neck.  
  
“Excuse me? I'll have you know Joshua wouldn't do such a thing!"  
  
“Please, how can you say such a thing? Knowing that you're son is a disgusting faggot."  
  
“Mum, stop it!" Alex shouted.  
  
“Quiet Alexander. Let the adults speak," Peter said, trying to calm down.  
  
“No, I'm not gonna stay quiet because I love Josh!"  
  
All of them got quiet, not knowing what to do.  
  
“Y-You love him?" Isobel whispered, not believing what she's hearing.  
  
“Yes mum, with all of my heart," he said proudly, taking Josh's hand in his. “And if you can't accept that then I'll move out and live with the Franceschi's. Because unlike you two, they accept our relationship."  
  
“You two knew about this?" Peter questioned.  
  
“Of course," Josh's mother said. “Our son and Alex told us because they knew how much you wouldn't accept Alex but we would."  
  
A few minutes of Peter and Isobel trying to sink in the brand new information of their son being gay, they separated the two love birds. The three immediately left the church and back to their house. An hour of yelling and saying how disappointed they were of their son, they made him pack all of his things. Isobel had told Alex that in two days, his aunt would be ready for him to live with her in some place called Baltimore, Maryland which was in the States.  
  
Alex was forced to break up with Josh the next day. They shared one last kiss and held each other, crying knowing that maybe this would be their last time seeing each other. And the next day, the love of Alex's life was no longer there in the same country. He was thousands of miles away and there was no way of getting him back.  
  
They didn't keep in touch throughout the years. And Josh never knew what happened to Alex. How his life was or if he made any friends. And he especially didn't know the accident Alex gotten into.


	2. chapter one.

Josh and his best friend, Oliver (who liked to go by Oli) were hanging out in the living room of Oli's apartment. The heavily tattooed man invited his friend over because he didn't want to be alone since his fiancé, Hannah, was at work.  
  
"So the wedding is coming soon. You excited?" Josh asked, getting comfortable on the black leather couch.  
  
Oli sat next to his best friend, handing him some iced tea. He opened his can of Dr. Pepper, giving Josh a big smile. "I'm really excited, man. I get to celebrate my wedding day with my friends and family. Get to get a little drink and call the love of my life my wife. Can't get any better than that."  
  
Josh smiled as Oli went on and on about how this was going to be awesome and that the fans were going to be so happy for them (well the ones who actually liked Hannah and Oliver being together). Oli was in a band called Bring Me the Horizon. Like Oli, Josh was also in a well known band called You Me at Six. The bands have gotten to become close friends after Oli and Josh made a few songs together.  
  
Oliver and Josh's friendship was a really good one. Josh loved the fact that even though he was gay and his friend isn't, Oli accepted Josh of his sexuality and never was once bothered by it. They knew each other's past and present like the back of their hand.  
  
"So guess what I heard," Oli said, then taking a sip of his drink.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"Alex Gaskarth is back in town."  
  
"Ah, my ex boyfriend who never bothered to talk to me after he left me," Josh said, "When did he come back?"  
  
"He came back yesterday and you gotta get over that. I understand that he really meant a lot to you and he was your first love and all, the beat thing for you to do is forget about it. You gotta move on from that, Josh. It isn't good to have that hanging over your head. Especially now that Alex is back."  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm over Alex Gaskarth and have been after he left."  
  
"Are you really?"  
  


-=-

  
  
_"Have you heard Alexander Gaskarth returned home from the States?"_  
  
For the past week, that was all Josh kept hearing everywhere he'd go. Of course people would talk about the return of Alex seeing how so many people were friends with the Gaskarths or they heard about Isobel and Peter sending Alex to the U.S of A due to finding out he was a straight as a circle. They were so many rumors about Alex already. People say that his aunt made him attend a gay to straight Christian camp, or that he came back because his aunt couldn't handle him since he was going drugs and was rebellious, or he ran away from home to see Josh again. The twenty three year old thought that all the rumors, especially the last one, was just a bunch of bullshit. He honestly wondered what made Alex come back.  
  
"Josh, honey, did you hear? Alex is back in Essex," his mother said. He was at his old home because his parent's invited him and Elissa over for dinner. "Isn't that great, dear?"  
  
"Yeah, if I was still in love with him," he mumbled under his breath, using his fork to play with the peas on his plate. He suddenly lost his appetite.  
  
"Joshua, don't say such things. I bet when you see Alexander at your sister's party–"  
  
"Hold the fuck up."  
  
"Joshua James, language!" his mother said, giving him a stern look.  
  
"Sorry, mum. But Alex is gonna be there at Elissa's party? Who invited him?"  
  
His sister gave him a smile. "I did, after all; he is my friend."  
  
Before Josh could get anymore information from Elissa, their father made them put their conversation aside. Josh's mother and father could still see that their son still had a some hidden feelings for his ex boyfriend. Josh just hasn't realized it yet.  
  


-=-

  
  
A week later, it was Elissa's birthday party. The party was in a reserved room in this fancy hotel about an hour away from the Franceschi's home. The room was halfway filled with happy party guests who were eating or dancing along to the music playing in the back on the dance floor.  
  
Josh was currently sitting by the bar, drinking water. He was staying sober just in case he saw Alex. The last thing he wanted to do was scare his ex boyfriend away from being a foolish drunk.  
  
"Hey little brother," Elissa said, making the male jump in surprise. She only laugh, putting an arm around his shoulder. "Havin' fun at my party?"  
  
"Of course," he said, giving her a smile.  
  
"I want you to meet some of my friends."  
  
"Um...as much as I would _love_ to meet your friends, I just wanna ask why."  
  
"Just cause now come on!" Elissa took his hand, leading him far away from the bar; outside the room into this large balcony. There, he saw three people. "Guys, this is my brother, Josh. The one I told you guys about."  
  
A male a bit taller than Josh smiled at him. He has messy dark brown hair with some blonde. He had a stubble like Josh has but not as much hair. His was thinner than Josh, but not too skinny. The man was wearing a dark grey jean jacket and a black shirt that read "Jagk" in big letters. His black skinny jeans and light grey high tops looked good on him. The man was pretty damn good looking, Josh thought. "Hey, I'm Jack. Really nice to meet you, man. Love your band too!"  
  
"Hi, I'm Tay; Jack's wife." Of course he had a wife. "I'm a huge fan of You Me at Six so it's really cool to meet you." The girl who was Tay had wavy brown hair with light colored low lights. She wore a green, brown, and black camouflage shirt with a light blue jean vest over it and black ripped skinny jeans.  
  
"Nice to meet you lads, and thanks. It's always nice to meet fans," he said, giving the married couple a friendly smile.  
  
"Oh and this is Alex! He's pretty quiet," Jack said, pointing to a brunette male with short hair. He had a dark grey jacket with a black hoodie. A plain black shirt and light blue skinny jeans with black high tops. He looked good as he always did. Seeing him now brought back all these familiar feelings.  
  
Alex waved at Josh, quickly looking away when Josh gave him a smile. It hurt, but he quickly engaged in conversation with Tay and Jack. He wanted to talk to Alex, just to catch up and know why hasn't his ex boyfriend, the love of his life for God's sake; hadn't kept in touch with him.  
  
But finally when Jack and Tay left to go talk to their friend, John, Josh walked up to a quiet Alex. "Hey Lex."  
  
"I..um..hi," he mumbled out, looking at his shoes.  
  
"I just wanted to ask how come you're not talking to me? I'm not just talking about now, I'm talking about how you went years without one letter, message, or phone call. Do you understand how much that fucking hurts?"  
  
"I-I don't, but what are you talk–"  
  
"Don't you dare ask me what I'm talking about because you fuck–"  
  
"Josh!" Elissa shouted, pulling on Josh's arm. She gave the brunette an apologetic stare in which he gave a small smile in return. "I'm really sorry, Alex. If you'll excuse us, I gotta have a word with my idiotic brother."  
  
Elissa led him out of the room and into a hallway not far from the party. "What the hell, Lis?" Josh asked, giving her a slight glare.  
  
"You had no right yelling at Alex like that. Especially since what he went through, you should know that," she said, giving him a disappointing look.  
  
"Wait, what happened to Alex?"  
  
She sighed heavily. "You honestly don't know what happened to Alex?"  
  
"Not the slightest clue."  
  
Another sigh escaped her lips, hoping that what she was about to say wouldn't hurt him. "When Alex was in Baltimore, he got into a car accident. The crash made him lose most of his memory. He only remembers most of his childhood and teen years."  
  
"What else?" Josh asked, wanting to know why Alex treated him like a stranger.  
  
"He...he doesn't have any memory of meeting you and your relationship, Josh."


	3. chapter two.

Josh couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Alex was in a car accident? And he didn’t even remember one single thing about their old relationship? The thought made him feel so guilty for yelling at Alex. But the main question on his mind was this:  
  
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”  
  
Elissa shrugged, not really knowing what to say. “I dunno, Josh. Maybe people were afraid of you getting hurt. I know I would have.”  
  
“Better than me yelling at the poor lad!” he shouted, suddenly getting angry. “Besides, I am not in love with Alex Gaskarth, far from it. It’s in the past, so no one has nothing to worry about.”  
  


\--

  
  
Josh went back to the bar, this time drinking a beer than a water. He thought he needed some alcohol in his system to push away the stress. Josh was drinking his second beer, but he wasn’t drunk. Not even close to it, actually. It was better that way, he thought, just so he wouldn’t find some way to ruin his sister’s birthday.  
  
“A glass of whiskey, please,” a man requested. Josh turned his head to the left, finding Alex Gaskarth patiently waiting for his drink.  
  
“Hey,” Josh said.  
  
Alex turned to look at Josh. He was a bit nervous, after all, the man _did_ yell at him and he didn’t even know why. “I, um, hi.”  
  
The older male sighed, no longer making eye contact with Alex but just staring at the half empty beer bottle in his right hand. “Look, I’m really sorry that I yelled at ya. I must have mistaken you for someone else that I know.”  
  
The other male smiled slightly. “It’s alright, honest mistake.”  
  
Only it wasn’t, but he doesn’t need to know that. He reached out his hand. “Let’s start over. Hi, my name is Joshua James Alphonse Franceschi, but I go by Josh Franceschi.”  
  
Alex shook Josh’s hand, chuckling. “Nice to meet you Josh. I’m Alexander William Gaskarth, go by Alex Gaskarth.”  
  
Josh and Alex just talked by the bar as they were drinking. Josh noticed that as Alex talked, he didn’t have his old British accent but more so of an American one. He didn’t mind, really, he liked it, but it was just a bit strange since he was so used to his old one. He really has changed, huh?  
  
“So Josh, have you lived in England your whole life?”  
  
“Yup, it’s a nice place to live, can’t imagine myself being anywhere else really,” he answered.  
  
“That’s _so_ cool, this is actually my first time in England, I guess,” Alex said. Josh just nodded, saying that he hoped he liked it here.  
  
God, he didn’t like pretending that he is just a stranger in his life. He didn’t like having to “start over”. He feels that deep down, lying and pretending that everything between him and the ex lover in front of him never happened was wrong. Alex was bound to find out the truth, right? The main question on his mind was: why? Why did Alex only remember his teen years and childhood? Why didn’t he remember his relationship with Josh or at least their friendship? Was it because Alex didn’t _want_ to remember him? Was it his aunt’s fault? After all, he lived with her so he could be away from him. Maybe when Alex tried to regain his memory, his aunt made sure Josh was out of the picture. Oh, that sneaky bitc—  
  
“Hello? You okay?” Alex asked, waving a hand in front of the British male’s face.  
  
“Um, what? Oh! Yeah, I’m sorry.” He sighed. “Been bit a stressed out.”  
  
“How come? If you don’t mind me asking.”  
  
Shit. “Um...My best mate, Oli, he’s getting married in a few months. I’m the best man, actually. Anyway, I’ve been helping him and his fiancé , Hannah, with the wedding and it’s been a bit stressful since I’m also juggling with my music.” It wasn’t technically a lie.  
  
“Oh yeah, you’re from You Me at Six!” Alex said with excitement. He nearly spilled the whiskey out of his cup. “I’ve been a huge fan of you guys for a long time!”  
  
Josh smiled, he always knew Alex loved his music, he just didn’t expect he’d love it now. “Really? That’s awesome, I’m glad you like our stuff.”  
  
And so from there, they went on about You Me at Six and other bands they like. Josh didn’t want to admit it, but it felt nice talking to Alex like this again. It was like back when they were dating, except they weren’t making out to Blink-182. But damn it, Josh just hoped he didn’t fall for Alex again. He can’t, he must, he shouldn’t, and he won’t. At least, that’s what he kept repeating himself whenever the brunette male in front of him would playfully punch his shoulder or push him away every time he made a joke.  
  
The two left the bar and sat at a table where Jack and Tay were eating. Alex headed to the dance floor to dance with Elissa for a bit, leaving Josh alone with the married couple.  
  
“You and Alex seem to be getting along really well!” Jack said with a smile. “That’s pretty cool since he’s the biggest You Me at Six out of all of us.”  
  
“Lex told me himself,” Josh commented with a smile in return.  
  
“You call him ‘Lex’ too?” Tay asked.  
  
Josh didn’t realize that the old nickname slipped out. He started to get anxious. What if they suspect something? They couldn’t find out that he used to date Alex. They can’t start thinking that he _liked_ Alex. No way, he was over alex. Right? What if they already knew, oh my go—  
  
“Are you okay?” the brunette female asked with a worried expression. Jack had the same expression.  
  
He really needed to stop zoning out. “Yeah, I’m alright! I was just thinking a bit.”  
  
“About wha—”  
  
“Josh!” Alex exclaimed, walking towards him from the dance floor. “Wanna dance?”  
  
He was going to say he didn’t really dance until Elissa pushed him off his seat from behind. Alex took that opportunity, grabbed Josh by the wrist, and led him to the dancefloor. Soon, Uptown Funk started playing. Josh stood there awkwardly, watching Alex dance carelessly. The English male started to sway back and forth in an awkward motion, trying not to be the idiot standing in the middle of the dance floor. Alex realized how tense the male looked so he grabbed his hands, swaying his arms along to the music until Josh started getting more comfortable. They laughed and sung along to the song, dancing like idiots. Few songs later, the party ended, and the two went their separate ways.  
  
Honestly, Josh hasn’t felt so alive in a long time.


End file.
